Back to Our Roots: Revolutionizing Black Greek Letter Organizations to Dismantle Racism in Higher Education

Black Greek Letter Organizations (BGLOs) started appearing across college campuses in the early 1900s at a time when racism was widely spread and accepted in society and institutions of higher education. Over time, BGLOs that existed at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) were forced to assimilate to the norms of the dominant culture as a way to mitigate the acts of racial bias and discrimination that these organizations were often subjected to. Throughout generations, BGLOs have continued to be deculturalized and therefore have moved further away from their intended purpose of fighting racial inequality and promoting racial uplift. This thesis seeks to analyze how and why BGLOs are continuing to struggle in the fight for racial equity and justify how the history of these organizations gives them the ability to effectively do racial justice work on college campuses. My proposed intervention centers the experiences of Black students and provides institutions of higher education with a method to integrate antiracist practices throughout all divisions of the university